A building management system (BMS) is a computer-based control system, which can be found installed in buildings; these have the capacity to control and monitor both the building’s mechanical and electrical equipment. These include security systems, lighting, ventilation and fire systems. They’re most commonly found in large buildings and projects with complex electrical and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems (HVA).
Typically, if a system is linked to a BMS, 40% of the building’s energy use will be represented though this figure may rise to 70% if lighting is included. A system also has the potential to reach further than HVA, extending to access control and security systems. For example, a fire alarm system could be linked to the system- in the event of a fire, the fire alarm system could stop smoke from spreading by shutting dampers in the ventilation system.
How could a BMS benefit my business?
There are multiple benefits for a BMS system; the main one being that it offers a huge amount of flexibility- there’s the possibility to control the system on a room to room basis. It also allows a business more of an insight into their energy consumption, and the facility to monitor the usage more carefully. Remote Building Optimisation allows the targeting and addressing of energy waste and reducing consumption- knowledge is power! Many businesses receive an energy bill and pay this without thought, regardless of the price and are too busy to address if it could have been cheaper. By receiving the data, they’d be able to easily see where cuts could be made and areas of improvements.
There are multiple levels of support for these systems. These begin at customer service; a point of contact should any operational issues arise. If there is an operational issue, there would be remote support for the system, to work out any basic issues- if this goes further there is maintenance support. Operational issues are identified and resolved quickly using this system- 70% of the time, a remote fix is done. One main benefit of this lies not only in the support accompanying the systems, but in the critical alarm management which gives early identification and remedial actions or faults which could escalate before they have an impact on your business.
A performance management area will go hand in hand with the BMS which will clearly show the performance of the system, allowing you to personalise the dashboard so you can compare and contrast information and keep an eye on all areas of the system. The effectiveness and payoff of having an energy efficient measure can be viewed here, both in terms of historical spend vs current, and past energy use vs current use.
If you’re interested in the system, and want to learn more and how it could be easily used in your business- give our expert energy advisors a call!